ABC orders new 'Bachelor Pad' all-stars spinoff of 'The Bachelor'

By Christopher Rocchio, 01/12/2010

The Bachelor franchise will reportedly receive the Big Brother treatment.

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ABC has ordered Bachelor Pad, a new spinoff of the reality dating series that will feature 20 former contestants from The Bachelor's 13 seasons and The Bachelorette's five seasons living together in a Big Brother-style house, The HollywoodReporterreported Tuesday.

Executive producer Martin Hilton declined to reveal cast-member identities but told The Reporter that it will include former winners. He added the spinoff's concept was inspired by real-life relationships formed by former contestants.

"All these people have been friends, been enemies, they date each other and bring all this great backstory to the show," Hilton told The Reporter.

"It seemed like there was an opportunity to combine that world with a new competitive reality show."

Bachelor Pad will feature the former bachelor and bachelorettes living together under one roof and competing in a series of challenges, some of which will be inspired by incidents from previous seasons of the reality dating franchise, according to The Reporter.

Chris Harrison -- who has helmed every The Bachelor and The Bachelorette edition -- will also host Bachelor Pad, according to The Reporter, which added will likely premiere following the conclusion of this summer's sixth edition of The Bachelorette.

The seven-episode series is produced by The Bachelor's Next Entertainment production company in association with Warner Horizon.

Reports that producers were planning to bring back past contestants for an all-star edition of the ABC reality dating series had first surfaced in October.

While ABC has never aired an all-star installment of the reality dating series, The Bachelor stars Bob Guiney (Season 4) and Jason Mesnick (Season 13) had each appeared on a prior The Bachelorette edition before their The Bachelor roles and all five The Bachelorette editions have starred a woman who competed on an earlier The Bachelor season.

In addition, The Bachelor's Fall 2004 sixth season also featured two bachelorettes who had previously been rejected from earlier editions -- including eventual winner Mary Delgado, who got engaged to Byron Velvick. The couple split late last year.